February Farm Dinner Recap

We hosted another fantastic Farm Dinner here in the Barnyard Café at Farm to You Market. We were so pleased that the event sold out more than a week ahead! This complex, four-course (plus appetizer), meal was made with ingredients that can all be found here in the store and the recipes are all my original creations. With the help of Danielle and a lot of research, we have been able to put together a great cocktail and pairing menu for these dinners that we hope you will enjoy.

This month, we featured beef in every course, except dessert. Each recipe was crafted from scratch, tested here in our kitchen and sampled by our team. Each course was thoughtfully paired with drinks that ranged from our take on an old fashioned to wine and beer.

We started the night with a passed appetizer, a house-made ricotta stuffed meatball in a light tomato sauce, and a Missouri Spirits Bourbon Old Fashioned with blood orange syrup from fresh squeezed oranges & spiced cherry bitters. Guests enjoyed meeting each other and shopping in the market. At 7pm everyone took their seats. As you can see in the photos, this is a unique dinner experience. Strangers become friends at the family-style table!

The first course was our take on a beef and mushroom pot pie. It featured American-Style Kobe stew meat, local king trumpet, oyster and shiitake mushrooms, beef and mushroom demi-glace and seasoned puff pastry that was a play on a pot pie crust. We paired this with Bur Oak Brewing Company Boone County Brown – it was amazing together! We deglazed the pan with the porter beer while cooking the stew. It really brought the flavors together for a perfect pairing.

Our second course was carpaccio and salad. It featured a very thinly sliced American-style Kobe beef tenderloin, micro-green arugula, baby kale, butter lettuce, red onion and fresh blood oranges. We paired it with Sugar Creek Winery Birdlegs Blush that we used in the mustard-y vinaigrette. The semi-dry blush with a citrus finish was perfect for the carpaccio. We spent a long time searching for a local blush or rose’ with a citrus finish, and we were lucky to find it with Sugar Creek Winery!

Next up was the main course: roast beef, featuring grass-fed roasted beef medallions, cooked sous vide before being seared to a beautiful pink inside, Cabernet Franc red wine and herb pan sauce, herbed mashed potato, charred onion and roasted thyme carrots. The dry red wine of choice for this meal was the Westphalia Vineyards 2015 Cabernet Franc, a traditional pairing with beef roast.

For dessert, and the perfect end to a perfect night, we served blood orange brulee tart. It featured a house-made crust, blood orange custard, candied orange peel and a little bit of mint for freshness. We worked hard on the crust, developing a recipe that could hold up to the custard, bake evenly, not get burned when we tried to torch it for service, and not be too sweet. That was a fun adventure where we got to try a lot of tarts and play with fire! Our final pairing was an Els Iced Coffee liqueur and club soda cocktail.

The sold-out dining room offered rave reviews of the food. For some of them it was a great Valentine’s dinner. For others, just a fantastic meal out with friends. Enjoy a look at some photos from the night—my team knocked it out of the park!

We will be hosting another Farm Dinner on March 31th at 6:30pm. Make your reservations soon—before it sells out! Click here to see the event online and for additional information. Please come out and join us. The menu I’m designing this month features locally-raised ‘Yard Bird’ as Farmer Toad likes to call it, I think you’ll love it. We will post it on our social media as soon as it’s ready! Make your reservations now – space is limited! Hope to see you there.

As always, I welcome your comments. If you were at the February dinner – tell us what you thought and come again! We can’t wait to see you.